Extra Dose of Love
by SapientesGladio
Summary: [Sequel to Friendship Day] Squall has to confront Selphie about his thoughts. He knows his friend deserves to know why he was having his internal monologue right? It won't confuse him further... right?


The ambiance was perfect for a circle of friends, for couples and for families that wanted to spend Valentine's Day with those that they loved. The surroundings of the restaurant were warm and had the best Eshtarian spiced seafood that the customers had ever experienced.

And of course, where there are good food and drinks, there is competitiveness and Triple Triad. Squall couldn't allow his sister to be any more delusional in beating him than she psyched herself up for.

"Squall c'mooon! I swear you cheat at this game!" Ellone huffed after her fourth loss.

"If you weren't sloppy, you could have won." Tactical burn, as Zell called it. Though he just was honest with Ellone.

Softening his expression from the shit-eating smirk (another thing Zell comments on since he doesn't grin too often), he smiled tenderly and offered true encouragement.

"You are improving though; you should be proud of that." He did admire that she was picking up some new techniques to improve her game. She's just out of her league right now.

They all had their fill of food and the owners of the restaurant allowed them to stay past closing hours. Fisherman's Horizon had a habit of having places close around 1930 or 2030 hours, which was early compared to the Galbadian late nights and early morning. Somehow. Zell and Quistis arranged it effectively so they all could have a good time. Frankly, Squall was still curious as to how that negotiation transpired.

Ellone sighed as she waved down Irvine to play with her so she could inflate her ego about winning against somebody. One day she'll get Squall, just today wasn't that day.

He rose up, excusing himself from the table and left the restaurant to stretch his legs and walk around a bit. Sitting around for hours wasn't good and he knew he could use some movement, especially after the dinner they had.

In the distance, near the barricade that blocked itself from the crashing of the ocean, Selphie was off by herself, taking pictures of the sunset before the evening started to come in. She always found it so interesting that FH had a later sunset before the sky was encased in the dark blue hues of the night.

The Lion took a deep breath and decided to walk towards her, exhaling in the process.

"Taking pictures for your blog?" He put his hands in his pockets, observing her browse through the photos in the digital camera before she repositioned herself to take another as the night was quickly trying to diminish the last bit of sunlight left.

"You know it!" She aimed for a different angle, she wanted to get this final photo just right.

Her blog now since the end of the war a year and a half ago have become a hub of information for cadets to excel in their classes and tips to pass their SeeD exams. In the same respect, freshly graduated and veteran SeeDs were curious about the sights of many locations in the world. Suicide and mental health have been hot topics amongst the seasoned SeeDs and it truly helped with them waking up to enjoy the next day.

Selphie had an "SeeD Talk" message board that allowed for any SeeD access to register and talk to anyone that needed a friend, to be talked out of their dark moments, a vote of confidence or just to talk period. It had increased more therapy patients that originally ignored treatment or realized they needed it. This also added a strengthened sense of family and friendship. No one wanted to be alone in this world.

So naturally, people felt a sense of relief that the personality spectrum of stoic to happy-go-lucky, people still needed to talk to someone, to confide in a newfound friend. The overhaul of her blog, the message boards and Selphie's plan to want to do a podcast for the Garden Festival and other smaller projects in between? She kept herself busy. She made sure the blog was still personable and accessible to everyone. Of course, she still kept the Sir Laguna page.

The Commander has even admitted to Selphie in their downtime, when he was down, he'd read it a few posts to cheer him up. There were still times Squall did not always feel the most social, so it was nice to read comforting pieces of advice that fit the situation from the comfort of his tablet in his room.

However, what he was about to ask had nothing to do with how proud he was of Selphie in the lapsed time.

"I... have a question." He tried to start.

"Sure, what is it?" The shorter brunette realized that maybe she could sneak a muted video clip of the sunset turning into nightfall.

_Well, here it goes. _

"Do you like me?" He felt really unsure if this was even an appropriate question.

"Of course, Squall." She muttered _Ah, bummer_... realizing the battery in her camera had died when she attempted to confirm the clip had ended.

"No, do you _like _me, as more than... a friend?" He said softly, feeling really out of place, even out of his league. He didn't have to ask this of Fujin, and he didn't have to ask the very obvious of Rinoa. This... was uncharted territory.

To him, Selphie was a good friend and he did not want to make the mistake he did with his first relationship with Fujin. They had a perfectly functional and respectful friendship; feelings were entangled until the point they escalated and a relationship formed from it. However, Seifer involved himself because he wanted to be meddlesome.

"My answer remains unchanged Squall," Finally, she put the camera's strap around her neck and turned her full attention to him, a curious look. "Why are you asking though?"

"It's just..." He stammered.

_Ah fuck, I was not prepared for this. Why did she have to put me on the spot like that?_

_Aren't girls supposed to divulge this stuff easily? Rinoa did._

He stopped his train of thought.

_Selphie isn't Rinoa. I need to stop thinking like that._

"I don't know how long you've felt that way and I had a wild thought in my head earlier and I figured I might as well ask instead of agonizing over it," Sighing, he removed his hands from his pockets and crossed his arms. He looked to the side at nothing until he fixated on a building with intricate lights. He needed to distract his mind with something. Selphie being as short as she was, managed to make men his height feel small.

_Is this a thing women do?_

Now the silence was deafening even though it lasted a minute or two. Squall was starting to think he was making a mistake before Selphie tugged his hand and pulled him away from the area. Squall wasn't too sure where they were going, but he noticed they were walking down Drunkman's Alley, the entry of FH. There were a few street lights installed that weren't solar powered. Engineers were experimenting with them to help the passersby that still needed to get home safely.

Once they reached the wooden crosswalk, Selphie let go of his hand and sat down on edge, taking in the sounds of the ocean. Squall did not know if it was appropriate to sit next to her or to stand beside her, so he just sat near her, but further away. He did not know what was appropriate for this type of conversation and space seemed to make sense.

The emerald-eyed woman looked off into the distance. "Squall, I've liked you since we were kids."

Furrowing his brows, he wondered where this was going. Zell said the same thing, but for an entirely different reason. Predominantly that Squall stood up to Seifer when Zell was getting bullied by him before he was adopted out. He vaguely remembers it, but it seems to check out. That's why Zell admired and had so much respect for the young man, even when he was unknowingly being an ass to the martial artist or just ignoring him until recently.

"I think my liking towards you was because I would at least try to talk to you and get to know you, even though you were scared that Big Sis wasn't there." Scratching her head, she tried to remember more details. "But any other memories regarding that goes to our adventure together almost two years ago, and we all know what happened two years ago. We were all trying to pair you up with Rinoa since it seemed like a good idea."

Squall did not like the meddling at all, but it did do some good as a result.

"Selphie, if you liked me, you should have said something," He moved closer to her, no point in hiding the fact that this information would have been better used at an earlier time.

Truth be told, Squall had formed an unexplainable fondness for Selphie during their travels together. He was nervous about vocalizing them since she was the only girl that wasn't pining for his attention in some fashion.

"Who knows how the events after the war would have turned out?"

_Who's to say I would have decided to be with Rinoa in the end?_

Waving a dismissive hand, she couldn't help but laugh. This perplexed Squall, ever the tactician that still couldn't figure out the elusive nature of women. Rinoa did say that they were magical creatures.

"Squall, I was a _teenager_. Full of insecurities, duty and worrying about the next thing, while also being the team's source of hype and morale. When Rin came into the picture, I mean," She laughed pitifully making a _that's that_ gesture.

"How could I compete with that? And Quistis joining us on our adventure too? I was starting to feel like I couldn't compete in the _Who Is The Better Girlfriend for Squall Leonhart _competition." Shrugging nonchalantly, she took in Squall's confused face again.

"Why was there even a competition to begin with? I wasn't even concerned with dating at that point." Shaking his head, he truly did not understand.

"_Aaaand_ this is also why I did not bother trying to pursue you," She put a friendly hand on his shoulder, bringing him closer as if she had a secret to share with him. She didn't, but she whispered anyway, "You are _super __**dense**_."

Squall scowled, jerking himself away from her at that comment. Which earned the reaction he wasn't anticipating for, her hearty laughter. While Selphie was gasping for air, Squall rolled his eyes, feeling embarrassment creep in as the heat was reaching his face.

"It's not _that_ funny Selphie." He muttered as she was winding down.

"Oh _please _Squall! After all this time and you _still_ have a hard time poking fun at yourself?" She wiped the tear threatening to fall from the corner of her eye.

Sighing, he was about to make an effort to get up before Selphie tugged him down. Naturally, he sat back down, but closer to her.

When the chortles simmered, she continued to say, "Like I was saying, you are _super duper mega ultra-dense._ So, I didn't make the effort since there was no point." Shrugging, allowing her legs to now dangle over the ledge. 

"I liked being that _unofficial close friend_ of Squall Leonhart anyway. I got to know all the _juicy_ details that Rinoa was dying to know." They both chuckled together at that.

"I hope you weren't waving what we talk about in front of her face." He gave her a sidelong look.

"She was _desperate _for it, but I told her that if she likes you so much, to go find out for herself." She returned the sidelong look, adding her impish smile to it.

"Besides, who is to say that there is information a potential girlfriend of mine would have that a now _close friend_ of mine wouldn't?" He casually said.

"Is this your lazy way to ask me out, Squall?" Her sidelong glance now held a glint to it. The Commander is blaming the street lights for illuminating her forest-green eyes because he found he fully turned his body towards her.

Squall was gauging Selphie's eyes but they were not letting up on any hidden emotions he couldn't tell from her face. 

This was another one of _Selphie's Top Secret Girl Things_ he wasn't being privy to.

"No." Sighing, he placed both of his hands behind his head before laying down on the wooden walkway of Drunkman's Alley. Probably not the cleanest thing to do, but he was grateful for the inventions of showers and washing machines.

_This isn't helping me figure out what I want either._

"That's good to know. Besides, it'd be a _real _bummer to be the Rebound Girl." Stretching, she continued to swing her legs back and forth. 

"Besides above all else just remember Squall, we're SeeD graduates. We live together,"

"And die together." He finished as he closed his eyes, remembering Zell and Selphie being ecstatic with their new motto as the SeeD trio they came up with during their travels. Rinoa and Irvine were mortified to hear it and Quistis merely shook her head. The Instructor had to explain to them that it's not uncommon for SeeDs to have dark humor that played with the concept of mortality.

"I think we've been gone for long enough, I wanna challenge Ellone at some Tee Tee." She got up, wobbling a little since her legs had to adjust to being supported again.

Hearing her footsteps slowly fading out, Squall had one more question:

"Selphie!" He called out, rising up enough to stand and turn around. 

"Hm?" She turned partially.

"..."

_C'mon Leonhart, you can take down a Sorceress from the future, but you can't ask your best friend a question?_

_I mean, she isn't really a __**best friend**__ if your next ten questions involve-_

_Shut up, this is not the time to be disgusting._

"If... I _did_ want to pursue you, what should I do?" The trepidation in his voice was giving way that this was uncharted territory.

The bouncy woman giggled before pressing her finger to her lips. "Now Squall, that requires you _pursuing _me to give you that sort of information." She gave the appearance of pondering momentarily.

"If you're up for the chase, you know I'm interested and if you're not, you know I'll still be your friend." She said nonchalantly before wondering back in the direction of the restaurant.

Choices.

Squall was good at making them in urgent situations, not regarding his love life.

_What do I do with this information?_

_God, why are women so..._

He instead of thinking further about it, he just walked after the Messenger Girl.


End file.
